Pore structure and compressive properties of ADC12 porous aluminum fabricated by Friction Stir Processing

Recently, porous aluminum has attracted special interest as a new functional material. However, the application of porous aluminum remains limited due to high-cost fabrication and low productivity. To overcome these problems, the authors proposed a new fabrication method called the "FSP (Friction Stir Processing) route precursor method". In this study, using aluminum alloy die casting ADC12 as the starting material, porous aluminum is fabricated by the FSP route precursor method. At first, the pore structures of ADC12 porous aluminum are observed through X-ray CT. It is shown that, in the porous aluminum by FSP precursor method, the pore size distribution and the circularity of pores are similar to those in commercially available porous aluminum. Moreover, the compression tests for ADC12 porous aluminum and commercially available porous aluminum are carried out. It is shown that ADC12 porous aluminum indicates brittle fracture, and high plateau stress and high absorption energy comparing those of commercially available porous aluminum.